Eurytrema coelomaticum: influence of the infection on the reproduction and nucleic acids contents in the albumen gland and ovotestis of Bradybaena similaris

Abstract

The number of eggs laid per snail in Bradybaena similaris and the nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) in the albumen gland and ovotestis were quantified in snails infected with sporocysts of the digenetic trematode Eurytrema coelomaticum. The total number of eggs laid per mollusc was reduced by 96.32% at the end of the larval development. The DNA concentration increased by 700% and the RNA concentration was reduced by 8,38% by the time when the daughter sporocysts of E. coelomaticum were released from B. similaris. The relation between these values and the inhibition of the reproduction observed in infected molluscs is discussed.

Keywords

• Eurytrema coelomaticum
• Bradybaena similaris
• parasitic castration
• nucleic acid
• ovotestis
• albumen gland